Mitchell man wins $49,000 lotto prize

Talk about it

Terry Kleinsasser, of Mitchell, claimed his $49,000 prize Wednesday after purchasing one of two winning South Dakota Lottery tickets sold in Mitchell last week.

Kleinsasser’s jackpot-winning Dakota Cash lottery ticket was purchased at the I-90 Truck Haven in Mitchell.

Kleinsasser declined to be featured in lottery advertising or be interviewed by the media. The Daily Republic attempted to reach Kleinsasser but was unsuccessful.

Last Wednesday’s lottery proved to be lucky for another, and as of yet unknown, person who purchased the winning Wild Card 2 lottery ticket worth $140,000 in Mitchell the same day. As of this Wednesday, no one had come forward and claimed the Wild Card 2 jackpot.

South Dakota Lottery spokeswoman Kelly Thompson said it is not unusual that no one has come forward to claim the Wild Card 2 prize. She said people will occasionally take time to get their affairs in order and hire a financial adviser before claiming their winnings.

The name of the business that sold the winning Wild Card 2 ticket has not been released, because that information is used to verify the winner.

Major lottery winners have become common in Mitchell. These latest two winning tickets came only months after two other major jackpots were won in the city.

Michelle Bathke won a $177,000 Dakota Cash jackpot in May, and a group of 14 people won $10,000 a week earlier.

“I think what happens is people hear that someone won in a certain area, and it gets them to buy more tickets,” Thompson said. “Mathematically that area would have a higher chance of winning.”

State lottery winners of a jackpot worth more than $101 must validate their winning ticket with one of three lottery verification offices in Sioux Falls, Pierre and Rapid City.

Tags: news, lottery, local, mitchell, jackpot, prize, updates